TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS
2 Corinthians 5:1-21
2 Corinthians 4:7
We have this treasure
contained in clay vessels. From God and not man
WHAT IS THIS TREASURE?
It is the Gospel of Jesus
Christ
It is the Spirit of God. It is
The Love of God. It is the Glory of God. It is the
purpose of God. It is the Word
Of God. It is a Gift from God.
This treasure is a life with
God. This treasure is our salvation. This treasure was gift-wrapped in human
flesh for you. This treasure is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This treasure is something
that must be protected. We have to protect our minds and
hearts from the sins of the
world. We have to contain our influence to the Word of truth.
THE VALUE OF THIS TREASURE
2 Corinthians 5:1-5
5 Now we know that if the
earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal
house in heaven, not built by human hands.
The Apostle Paul was a tent
maker. You could say his day job was making tents, His real job was proclaiming
Jesus Christ.
Paul understood that a tent
was a temporary shelter. It could be taken down, folded up, and carried away.
He knew that in time it would be worn out and need to be replaced.
It is similar to our life on
earth. It is a temporary place. We grow up, we grow old, and we get
worn out. This body is the
clay vessel. It can get broken and it can be destroyed.
But we have this treasure in
this clay vessel. While the clay vessel is temporary, the treasure is eternal.
Jesus said that if you abide in Me and my Word abide in you, you ask what you
want and it will be given to you. It is a treasure in this earthen vessel that
provides protection and provisions. This treasure is valuable.
This treasure orders our steps
and guides us into all righteousness,
This treasure is a keepsake.
This treasure is worth all the Gold in the world. This treasure is worth our
time and our study.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS
TREASURE
2 Corinthians 5:5
5 Now it is God who has made
us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing
what is to come.
This treasure is our guiding
light. It is the light of the world an example for all to see
and live by.
This treasure is the strength
of the earthen vessel
I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me.
Verse five says this clay
vessel was made for this purpose. We were made in the image
and likeness of the Almighty
God. While the clay vessel is getting worn out, the treasure is renewed every
day.
This earthen vessel was born
in sin and shaped in iniquity. This clay
vessel was destined for death. But the treasure was predestined for eternal
life.
THIS TREASURE REVIVES OUR
FAITH
2 Corinthians 5:6-11
V:6 Therefore we are always
confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from
the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and
would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make
it our goal to please him,
We got this treasure in this
earthen vessel. This treasure comes with confidence. I can trust the Lord. With this treasure, I
am justified, sanctified, and clothed in the righteousness of God.
With this treasure, I don't
have to worry about tomorrow. Because they just live by faith and not by sight.
This treasure in this earthen
vessel reminds me that my goal is to please the Lord.
This treasure reminds me of my
heavenly home. I look forward to being absent from the body and present with
Lord. This treasure reminds me that I
got some work to do. I got cleaning up to do. I got some growing up to do. I
got some service to perform. I got to get ready for that judgment day.
Bear with me, I talking about
the TREASURE
THIS TREASURE IS THE PRIDE
OF LIFE
V:11 Since, then, we know what
it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God,
and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend
ourselves to you again, but are allowing you to take pride in us so that you
can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the
heart. 13 If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in
our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ's love compels us because we are
convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for
all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who
died for them and was raised again.
The treasure comes with
responsibility.
The treasure makes it plain, I
must first reverence the Lord. Second,
It is my job to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I can't keep this treasure
to myself. I got to share it with everybody else. This treasure makes it plain
to me, that while I got the opportunity I must take pride in Jesus Christ, If
boast, I boast in the Lord
It is this treasure that keeps
me in my right mind. It's this treasure that compels me to love God first and
to love you as I love myself.
It is this treasure in this
earthen vessel that reminds me of hope of my salvation. Christ died for me and
you. We are all raised when He was raised. It is this treasure that reminds me
that I am no longer mine, but the Lord.
It is this treasure that reminds me if I live I must live for the Lord.
THIS TREASURE IS OUR NEW
CREATION
V:16 So from now on we regard
no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this
way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; the old has gone, and the new has come!
This treasure gives me a new
point of view. This treasure elevates us
to a new and higher
level of thinking. This
treasure reminds me that this earthen vessel is being broken and reshaped into
something new. The old man is dead and a new man has come alive.
I getting old and my steps are
getting shorter, but this treasure is renewing me on the inside.
The outlook on the outside may
be dim. But our look on the inside is bright and shining.
We got this treasure in
earthen vessels.
THIS TREASURE IS OUR
REDEMPTION
V:18 All this is from God, who
reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not
counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of
reconciliation.
This treasure is from God. Man
has nothing to offer in comparison. Only God can reconcile us to Himself. Only
God can take away the sins of the world and replace them with His
righteousness.
As bad as I am, as terrible as
I have been, God sent His Son to die for my sins and yours.
God has decided that any good
that we do is nothing more than filthy rags. Yet, He redeemed
us from our sins and made us
responsible for the message of reconciliation.
I got his treasure in this
earthen vessel. I am compelled to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
WE ARE MADE AMBASSADORS FOR
THIS TREASURE
2 Corinthians 5:20-21
V:20 We are therefore Christ's
ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on
Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin
for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As bad as we are, As terrible
as we can be, God has made us Ambassadors for Christ.
God overlooks the bad and sees
the good in us. He compels us to be reconciled to
Himself through His Son.
We got this treasure in earthen
vessels. It makes us conscious of the righteousness that
has been bestowed upon us.
This treasure is God’s grace
and God’s mercy. This treasure is worth the praise of men
all day long.
This treasure was announced to
us by God’s Holy Angels
Glory to God in the Highest,
and on earth peace, and goodwill toward me.
This treasure come with wisdom
that exceeds the knowledge of all men for all times.
This treasure we have brings
joy when there is sadness. This treasure we have brings peace when there is
turmoil. This treasure that we have brings hope when others see gloom and doom.
This treasure that we have causes us to shout when there is no one around
us.
This treasure that we have
lets us face trials and tribulations with the joy of the Lord.
The joy I have, the world
didn’t give it and the world can’t take it away. Because I have
this treasure in this earthen
vessel.
THANK GOD FOR THIS TREASURE
Rev. M. Mitchell
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